Various methods and devices used to track the delivery and receipt of parcels are well known in the prior art. Conventionally and ubiquitously, the prior art has developed to improve the tracking of parcels while in transit and/or continuing to track parcels that were undelivered due to failed delivery attempts. The prior art primarily addresses the needs of the senders to track where their parcels are in the delivery process and to verify that their parcels have been delivered. The prior art, however, does not address important post-delivery issues, such as ensuring the accuracy of delivered parcel records and providing parcel recipients with a method to verify and confirm that what they signed for is in fact what they received. The prior art further does not provide a simple way for recipients to access and save multiple delivery records for the recipient's use and benefit.
Traditionally, tracking numbers are only linked to a parcel at the time of mailing. Once a recipient has signed for a parcel, the recipient does not receive a receipt or record reflecting the accepted parcel. Moreover, delivery persons are capable of changing signature records after the recipient has received and signed for the parcels. For example, a recipient may sign for and receive only one parcel but the record can easily be changed, inadvertently or intentionally, to appear as though the recipient received and signed for more than one parcel. As electronic signatures continue to become increasingly accepted in business transactions, clearly there is a need to secure the records to which the signatures are applied.
Moreover, traditional delivery tracking systems require tracking numbers and separate associations for each individual package. Even if a recipient was capable of accessing the prior art delivery records for inventory purposes, the recipient would have to individually input the records since each package requires a separate tracking record. Clearly, there is a need for a delivery system capable of linking multiple parcels to one electronic delivery record access slip, which would enable recipients to view multiple, simultaneous package deliveries in one step for time-saving, improved business tracking of incoming inventory and consolidation of business inventory records.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,551 issued to Craig Barta; Matt Miller; Daniel Garcia; Scott Aubuchon, entitled “Delivery Notice And Method Of Using Same,” and U.S. application Ser. No. 2004/00845519 entitled “Parcel Delivery Notice” (a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,551) both address the issue of continuing to track undelivered parcels due to failed delivery attempts. The recipient receives an attempted delivery notice, which is electronically linked to the undelivered parcels. The recipient uses the unique identifying information on the delivery notice to retrieve parcel information via the Internet or telephone. The Barta patent however does not address the recipient's need for post-delivery verification and confirmation of the accuracy of the delivered parcels records. The Barta patent further does not provide a means for allowing the recipient to download and save accepted delivery records for its use and benefit, such as inventory tracking.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,942 issued to Dominic L. Monico entitled “Bar-Coded Label for “Attempt to Deliver” Parcels,” discloses a business form and method for facilitating delivery of a package. The business form allows the delivery person to scan into the computer database information pertaining to the reasons for non-delivery. The Monico patent does not allow for the recipient to access the information by means other than via the telephone, and the Monico patent further does not address post-delivery verification and confirmation of the accuracy of the delivered parcels records.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No(s). 6,321,992; 6,394,354; and 6,827,273 issued to Carl Harry Knowles and David M. Wilz, Sr., and respectively entitled: “Internet-based System and Method for Tracking Objects Bearing URL-Encoded Bar Code Symbols,” “Internet-based System for Routing, Tracking and Delivering Packages Using URL-Encoded Bar Code Symbols,” and “Mobile Driven Information Access Terminal For Remotely Accessing Package Delivery Instructions from an Internet Information Server” involve the use of accessing the Internet to track parcels in transit. However, the patents do not discuss post-delivery functions and are focused toward a system for retrieving delivery instructions.
Clearly there is a need for an electronic receipt delivery system that allows the recipient of a parcel to verify and confirm the accuracy of the delivery records for which the recipient signed and allowing the recipient to save a copy of those delivery records for the recipient's records.